Welcome to the Team
by captaintightpants
Summary: Katara doesn't trust Zuko. Why should she, after everything he did to them? Unfortunately, Aang needs to learn firebending. Zuko, welcome to Team Avatar. Slightly AU. Zutara.
1. Prologue

**Author's Note: **Hi! This is the first fan fiction I have written in an extremely long time, and this is my first _Avatar _fan fiction, so I know it's not really good. I thought I would try, though. I made this the prologue because it is somewhat short, and I want the real chapters to be longer. Besides, I thought this was kind of a lead-up to what is happening.

This is slightly AU. I changed a lot of things. I mean, obviously you have to if you're writing a non-canon fic, but yeah.

This takes place during Season 3 Episode 11: The Western Air Temple. There are some important things to note, though. I made it so that the other kids that were with them ARE NOT THERE. It is just easier for me, and I am lazy. I don't think I could even begin to write them, and I didn't want to mess it up. So it is just Sokka, Toph, Katara, and Zuko right now. They are going to be at the air temple for a longer time, because I changed the time as well. Sozin's Comet is farther away than it is in the show.

I apologize for any mistakes in this chapter (or prologue-whatever).

I'm trying to keep some of the humor from the original show, because I don't want it to be dark like a lot of the fan fictions here are. Zuko is not going to be abusive either.

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_**Prologue**_

Zuko had burned Toph's feet. Toph had claimed it was an accident, but Katara was not hearing any of it. He thought he could just walk into their camp and simply say, "Hello! Zuko here!" and everything would be completely fine? She had trusted him. She had trusted him, and he had betrayed her. She almost healed his _scar_. The thought made her sick. If she had used the spirit oasis water to heal his scar, Aang would have died, and there would be no hope for the world. The avatar cycle would have been broken, and all because she had trusted the crown prince of the Fire Nation.

Now, he had the nerve to claim he was good again and then _burn_ a blind twelve year old girl's feet. It was easy enough for her to heal Toph's feet, but it didn't change what he had done. Katara had stormed off as soon as Toph's feet had been healed, despite the warnings of Sokka, Toph, and Aang. They hadn't gone after her, because they knew they couldn't change her mind. Katara was stubborn.

So, there she was, standing next to Zuko's campsite. He was talking to a giant toad. In fact, he was so into his conversation that he didn't even see Katara standing right there. "I am so stupid," Zuko groaned, throwing his head into his hands in frustration.

"Yes you are," Katara responded, shaking in fury. She made a quick water whip from the water she had brought with her, and she put it up as a defense. "You _burnt _Toph's feet!" Zuko was standing now. At first, he had gone to a fighting stance, but when he realized who it was, he hesitated.

"I didn't mean to. She snuck up on me," he said, obviously exasperated. Katara ignored what he had said.

"Toph sees with her feet, Zuko. You expect us to believe that you are 'good' now? Well, maybe you shouldn't go around hurting our friends."

"Seriously, I am on _your _side now. How can I prove that to you?" he asked, and Katara clenched her jaw, not responding. The wind blew Zuko's hair out of his face, and his scar was now completely visible. It only made Katara angrier. He had used his scar for pity before.

"You want to know how you can prove it? You can leave. You can go back to where you came from and leave us alone. You can't play the 'I'm just a poor guy with a damaged past that led me over to the dark side' card anymore. You lost that right. We all have problems, Zuko, and most of them are the result of your own family's doings." A vision of her mother's face went through her mind, but she immediately shook it off. A small flame shot out of Zuko's hand, but it was quickly diminished.

"How can you judge me for what my family has done?" Zuko was yelling now. Katara's words were affecting him. She walked closer to him, and he stood his ground. He wasn't scared of her. He was stronger than her. He wasn't going to hurt her. He meant it when he said that he was on their side now, but that didn't mean that she wouldn't attack him.

"I'm not judging you for what your family has done. I'm judging you for what you have done. You're just following in your family's footsteps." They were both fuming now, staring at each other and preparing for a battle. Right when Katara was about to use her whip, there was a loud explosion. Katara's whip disappeared as she and Zuko both turned towards the source. There was smoke coming out of a spot on the cliff. "Aang!" Katara yelled, turning to run towards the smoke.

Zuko stopped her by grabbing her shoulder. She was about to attack him when he pointed to a spot on the other side of the cliff. "Look," he said quietly. There, in all of his glory, was the assassin that Zuko had sent after them originally.

"You didn't call off Sparky Sparky Boom Man?" Katara asked slowly, through clenched teeth. Zuko looked at her weirdly.

"Sparky Sparky Boom Man? Didn't Sokka call him Combustion Man?" Zuko questioned, and Katara elbowed him. He groaned and rubbed his side.

"That is not the point! He is going to kill us," Katara shouted, and Zuko shook his head.

"Not if I can help it," Zuko said, standing proudly. Katara rolled her eyes.

"Being on the good side doesn't mean saying cheesy things," she told him, annoyed. "If you can help us get 'Combustion Man,' I will consider letting you teach Aang firebending, but I will never trust you." He nodded and stared at her for a second before jumping up and creating a circle of fire around himself. Katara followed him, re-summoning the water whip. "Maybe I can knock him off the cliff," Katara said, but she quickly realized she didn't have enough water when her whip didn't even reach a couple of feet. "Or not," she added to her last sentence, blushing.

Zuko sighed. He began moving his arms around in a pattern, and Katara watched as more and more fire was gathered around him. She was amazed, not that she would ever admit it to him. Firebending really was beautiful when it wasn't being used for evil. He launched the fire at Combustion Man, who wasn't expecting it. At the last possible second, however, Combustion Man saw it and dodged it. Now he was looking straight at Zuko.

Things weren't looking too good. Combustion Man shot at where Zuko was standing, and he jumped out of the way and landed on the ground. Katara was blown back by the force of the explosion. "Where did you find this guy?" Katara shouted with her head in a pile of dirt. Zuko got up and walked towards her with his hand out. He was going to help her up.

She ignored his hand and got up herself, brushing some dirt off her clothes. "He is sort of famous in the Fire Nation," Zuko said, afraid of Katara's reaction. She summoned the water again, and this time, she slapped him lightly in the face. It was enough to cause pain, but not enough to actually hurt him. He grabbed his face.

"You deserved that," Katara said. "Wait, we need to get rid of this guy. What is your plan?" Katara asked Zuko, and he shrugged. They both looked at Combustion Man, who was once again trying to kill Aang. Aang, Sokka, and Toph were hiding behind a wall. Sokka threw his boomerang at Combustion Man. It knocked him over, but he quickly got back up. "Wait, I actually have a plan." Katara picked up a rock and started running along the edge of the cliff, looking for a better angle to get Combustion Man. She stopped when she had a clear view of him. She pulled her arm back and then threw as hard as she could. She missed him by a lot. It was laughable how far she was off. Fortunately, it worked as a distraction.

Combustion Man stared at the rock that had landed a couple of feet away from him, and Zuko was able to hit him with a huge blast of fire. "Toph, earth bend!" Katara shouted, hoping Toph would hear. She did. The rock that Combustion Man was standing on immediately disappeared into the wall of the cliff, and Combustion Man fell down.

Katara looked away. She was still disgusted by what they had done, even if it was necessary. "Your plan was to throw a rock at the best assassin in all of the four nations?" Zuko was standing beside her with a look of disbelief on his face.

"Well, it worked!" she shot back, balling her hands into fists. Katara looked up at Zuko. They stared at each other for a couple of seconds. His good eye was wide, and he looked hopeful. "I guess you're teaching Aang firebending now." She wasn't happy about the fact, but her personal feelings towards Zuko were not what were important. Aang mastering the four elements was more important than anything. "Come on."

Zuko followed closely behind Katara as they made their way back towards the Air Temple. Sokka, Toph, and Aang were watching them. "Zuko is going to teach Aang firebending," Katara said quietly, and they stared at her. They never thought Katara would ever agree to it. Even when Aang, Sokka, and Toph were okay with it, Katara had stood her ground.

"Really?" Aang asked. Katara nodded.

"He helped beat Combustion Man," Katara said, crossing her arms. Zuko was standing behind her, still somewhat afraid to join them.

"Welcome to Team Avatar!" Sokka said, and everybody stared at him. Katara slapped her hand to her face, embarrassed by her brother.

"I'm going to get you back for burning me, though," Toph said. Nevertheless, she looked happy. Aang just smiled at Zuko.

Katara turned around and stared him down.

"Don't screw this up," she said, and Zuko nodded.

"I won't."


	2. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: **I have nothing better to do with my life than to write crappy fanfiction, so here is the real first chapter. Woot. I love Toph, just so that everybody knows. Toph is my absolute favorite character in _Avatar_. I want to be best friends with her. Also, I ship her with Sokka, and I don't know if I'm going to include that in this story. It might be hard to, but there may be hints of it. The problem is that I also love Suki. Oh, _Avatar_ causes me such inner conflicts. OH, and also, I know that there are some major similarities between this and the actual show. I wanted to keep part of it, but I wanted to change it too. I didn't want to copy scenes directly from the show, so I added my own shit to them.

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Chapter 1

The first night had been incredibly awkward. After eating dinner, they had all laid down to go to sleep. Toph, Sokka, and Aang fell asleep immediately. Katara and Zuko, on the other hand, did not. They had too much on their minds.

Zuko was twisting around and turning, trying to get comfortable on the rocky ground. Each time he flipped over to get in a new position, Katara's jaw clenched even more. She couldn't sleep, and the constant noise from Zuko was not helping her. Zuko twisted around a couple of more times before finally settling down. Katara breathed a sigh of relief. She shut her eyes and tried to relax, but Zuko flipped around again. "Would you stop moving?" Katara whispered, trying not to wake everybody up.

"I'm surprised you can hear me over the sound of your brother's snoring," he whispered back. Katara, for the first time in a while, realized that her brother was, in fact, snoring. She was so used to it by now that she didn't notice it anymore.

"You are the one that wanted to join our group. You can easily find another spot to sleep, or you can leave for good," Katara whispered angrily. She was praying he would do the latter.

"I will do neither," Zuko responded, twisting around again. Sokka let out an exceptionally loud snore, and Katara threw her sleeping bag off herself. She started walking away, dragging the sleeping bag behind her. "What are you doing?" Zuko asked her. She turned around. He was sitting up now, staring at her. She tried to avoid looking at his bare chest. It was awkward.

"_I'm _finding another spot," she said. She began walking again before stopping to add something else. "And put on a shirt!" She didn't wait to see his reaction.

Katara found a spot away from everybody else, but she still didn't sleep. When everybody else got up, she was still lying down, staring at the ceiling of the air temple.

"I'm ready to start firebending!" Aang shouted, and Katara fought back the urge to scream. Katara was easily annoyed when she had enough sleep, but when Katara didn't sleep enough, she was a monster.

She stomped towards the rest of the group and stood there staring at them. "Uh, Katara, are you okay?" Aang asked, petting Appa, who let out a loud noise of satisfaction.

"Oh, I am perfectly fine. I am wonderful. Today is wonderful," she said, her right eye twitching. Aang smiled nervously.

"Um, well, I'm starting my firebending training today. You look like you could use some more sleep… Why don't you take a nap?" Aang asked calmly, and Katara glared at him.

"No! I am watching you. I'm not tired at all. I don't need a nap!" Aang shut up after that. It was no use trying to argue with a tired Katara. She was even more stubborn when she was tired.

Zuko walked up next, and he looked perfectly rested. Katara wondered how he had gone to sleep if he was complaining about her brother's snoring. How was it fair that he got to sleep and she didn't? She silently fumed while staring at him, but Zuko ignored her.

Everyone made their way to an open spot where they could practice firebending. "Okay, Aang, show me what you can do," Zuko said.

Aang looked like he put a lot of effort into what he was doing, but a small puff of smoke was the only result. Sokka watched, biting his lip to hold back laughter. Toph stood there idly. "Is it supposed to make that sound?" Toph asked. She had no idea if fire had actually come out of Aang's hand, but she had never heard that sound come from any firebender before.

Aang scratched his head and laughed nervously. "No, I don't think it is," he said. He was embarrassed.

"Watch me do it," Zuko said arrogantly. "You might want to back up," he told Katara, only sparing her a side glance. She didn't want to, but she backed up. She remembered what had happened when Aang had lost control while firebending before, and although she knew that Zuko was a lot more trained than Aang, she was still cautious.

Zuko made a big show of swirling his arms around before sticking his arm out. The same thing happened to Zuko that had happened to Aang. A small puff of smoke came out of his hand, but the accompanying sound was what made Katara lose it. She burst into a fit of laughter, unable to control it. While Katara laughed, Zuko tried over and over again to produce fire, with no avail. "What is happening to me?" Zuko shouted, in between his different attempts to firebend.

Katara finally calmed down. "Maybe you're just not as good at firebending as you think you are," she said smugly, feeling very awake all of the sudden. Zuko growled and tried once again to firebend.

"Let's take a break," Aang offered, trying to ease the awkwardness. Zuko ignored him and kept trying.

"It was fun while it lasted, but it looks like we are going to need another firebending teacher. Hope you had fun, Zuko. Bye!" Katara said, putting her hands on her hips. Zuko growled and turned towards her, extending his arm. Fire shot from his hand, and Katara ducked just in time. She looked up to see Zuko staring wide-eyed at her. "Did you just shoot fire at me, you insuffer—" Before Katara could finish, Sokka had budded in. He was holding Katara back now.

"Wait, don't you see what is going on?" Sokka asked, and there was no response. "Zuko's abilities are fueled by his hatred. All we have to do is have Katara talk to Zuko at every lesson, and he will be able to firebend!" Sokka concluded, and Toph cackled from her spot on the sideline.

"Oh man, that will be good," Toph said, and Katara rolled her eyes, knowing that Toph wouldn't see it.

"I don't _hate _Katara," Zuko said defensively. He looked guilty for shooting fire at her, even if it was an accident.

"Well, that's funny, because I hate you," Katara said, venom pouring out of her voice. Zuko looked unfazed.

Aang finally cut in. "Alright!" he yelled. "Katara, go find some food with Toph. I think we need to figure out what is going on, and fighting isn't solving anything." Katara huffed but walked away.

"Hey, wait! I never agreed to this!" Toph argued, but Katara dragged her away. "I never get to have any fun," Toph whined.

"Just come on. They don't want us here right now," Katara said, beaten. "Can you quickly get us to the forest?" Katara asked, and Toph stomped her foot. A rock elevator appeared, and they climbed on it. Soon, they were near the forest. They walked into the forest, and Katara quickly spotted some berries.

"Why do you hate Zuko so much?" Toph asked Katara, and she stopped immediately. She was surprised by the question. Toph didn't sound angry. She just sounded curious.

"Because I trusted him," she said simply, not bothering to provide any more details. Toph sighed loudly.

"Care to elaborate, Sugar Queen?" Toph said, her sassy side appearing. Katara gathered the last of the berries from the bush and turned towards Toph. Toph was rubbing her feet on the ground, kicking some rocks without earthbending.

"We were in prison together at Ba Sing Se. He tried to make me feel sorry for him, and it worked. I almost healed his scar," Katara exclaimed, and Toph stopped kicking.

"Wait, Zuko has a scar?" she asked. Katara wanted to laugh. Zuko was constantly sulking about that scar. She wondered what his reaction would be to Toph's question.

"Yes. It's a burn. It's on the left side of his face, from his eye to his ear." Katara began looking for more berry bushes. She needed some food for Aang to eat, since he would not eat the fish that Sokka caught for them.

"Well, that's news to me!" Toph said, sounding somewhat irritated by her lack of knowledge about Zuko. "How did he get it?"

Katara was annoyed by Toph's questions about Zuko, but she tried to hide it. She just wanted to gather some food and take a nap like Aang had originally suggested. She didn't want to think about a certain banished prince. On the other hand, she didn't want to start a fight with Toph. They had argued a lot before, and it was never enjoyable. Katara wanted to stay on good terms with Toph.

"I don't know. He doesn't talk about it. He didn't even tell me when we were in prison together. I think it has something to do with Fire Lord Ozai, though," Katara said, staring at the ground.

"So, his dad burned him?" Toph asked. Katara looked back at Toph, glad she couldn't see the expression on her face. Katara gulped.

"Yes."

Toph had recognized that the conversation was over, and Katara was glad. She gathered the rest of the berries in complete silence. Toph tagged along, kicking more rocks along the way. "Okay, I've got enough." They made their way back to the edge of the cliff, and Toph made another rock elevator.

When they returned, Zuko, Sokka, and Aang were sitting in a circle, looking grim. "I got some berries," Katara announced. She was calmer than she was earlier. Instead of being annoyed and tired, she was just tired. She wanted to lie down.

"Food!" Sokka screamed, running and grabbing a handful. Zuko gave a quick glance at the berries that Katara was holding.

"Those are poisonous," he said blankly, and Sokka froze in his spot. He hadn't taken a bite yet, but he was close. Katara blushed and looked down at the berries she had gathered.

Zuko was right. She had picked up poisonous berries because she was distracted by her thoughts of Zuko. "I could have died!" Sokka said dramatically, throwing the berries to the ground.

"You once drank cactus juice and then licked some unknown substance from the wall of a cave. I think you would have survived, Sokka," Katara said, dropping the load of berries she had drabbed. "I'm sorry guys. I'm just a little tired." Katara sat down and rubbed her eyes. Toph sat next to her.

"How was firebending after we left?" Toph asked. Zuko groaned and fell backwards, making a loud thud. "I'm going to guess that means it didn't go well."

"We are just having a rough time right now. That's all," Aang said, trying to make Zuko feel better. Katara looked at Zuko who had his hands on his face in embarrassment. She smirked. "I think there is some truth to what Sokka said. Zuko has always used hatred and anger to drive his firebending, but since he is on the good side now, he doesn't know where to draw his power from."

"Don't talk about me like I am not right here," Zuko commented. His voice was muffled due to the fact that his hands were still covering his face. Katara let out a small giggle. "Enjoying the sight, Katara?" he shot at her. She immediately stopped smiling and shut up. She didn't respond.

"Maybe if we annoy Zuko enough, it will make him able to firebend," Sokka said, poking Zuko's leg repeatedly. Toph cheered and quickly crawled over, joining him. "See, if we get him all riled up, he will probably be able to firebend again." Toph and Sokka continued poking Zuko until he shot up and shouted.

"Enough!" Sokka stopped poking, but Toph poked a couple of more times. Everyone stared at her, but she didn't notice. When Zuko groaned, she stopped.

"Hey, Zuko burned my feet. I think I deserve a few extra pokes." Katara smiled at Toph's logic, but when she saw that Zuko was glaring at her, she stopped.

"Don't get mad at them. They're only trying to help," Katara said, her eyes still locked with Zuko's. They had a mini staring contest, as each of them tried to stare down the other. They were interrupted by Aang.

"We just need to find the source of firebending. For airbenders, it's the flying bison." Katara nodded at Aang's idea. It was smart. Toph slapped her hand on the ground in excitement, which caused a rumble.

"Sorry," she mumbled. "But Aang is right. I learned earthbending from the badger moles. If Zuko can find the source of firebending—well the _real _source of firebending—then he will be able to firebend again."

"Hate to destroy this newfound optimism, but the original source of firebending is dragons. The dragons are extinct." Aang tilted his head.

"Didn't Avatar Roku have a dragon though?" he asked, and Zuko tensed.

"Yes, but there aren't any dragons anymore, okay?" he shouted, and everyone was taken aback, even Katara. Why was he so angry about this?

"Is there anything else, though?" Katara asked, trying to help the situation. Zuko was silent for a moment.

"Well, we can go to the ancient Sun Warriors' civilization, but they died out a long time ago…" Zuko didn't sound pleased with the idea. Aang smiled though.

"Great! We can take Appa and look for it tomorrow."

Everybody was quiet for a couple of seconds, until Sokka reached out and poked Zuko one more time. "What is wrong with you?" Zuko screamed. Sokka quickly backed up.

"I just wanted to explore all of our options!" Sokka said defensively, his hands up in defeat.


End file.
